The invention relates generally steel manufacturing facilities, and more particularly to a steel manufacturing facility that melts steel, refines steel, and casts steel into slabs, blooms, or billets, without the use of overhead production cranes. All production movements are done by mobile equipment.
All previous steel manufacturing facilities have used heavy overhead cranes to move scrap charged buckets and steel filled refractory lined ladles from station to station during processing within the steel plant. This method requires multiple overhead crane bays and multiple cranes in each bay. Cranes by their nature restrict free flow of material between stations because the booms and support structures or cables physically interfere with the spaces above and between the stations. Cranes simply cannot pass by each other within the plant.
Even with multiple bays and multiple cranes, steel manufacturing facilities quite often are encumbered by not having overhead cranes in the right place at the right time. In addition, overhead cranes are very expensive to purchase, maintain and operate. Also, overhead cranes are very heavy. Due to their weight, such cranes require massive structures for support and massive footing for the many vertical support columns. These support structures and footings are also very expensive to install and maintain. Furthermore, when a crane is out of service for repair and maintenance it can also restrict free movement of material, thereby reducing output of the shop. An overhead crane in need of repair or maintenance cannot simply be moved out of the way of other operating cranes and cannot be easily disassembled.
Another problem with existing steel manufacturing facilities is that an enormous amount of emissions are generated during the steel making process. When overhead crane cables are suspending a scrap bucket within the facility, there is no practical way to contain the tremendous emissions that are generated when the scrap falls into the molten slag and steel in the bottom of the melting furnace.